


Not Human (Or Anything Remotely Similar)

by MarztheIncredible



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Bisexual Disaster Luz Noceda, Cultural Differences, Gay Disaster Amity Blight, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I've forgotten how to tag, Like how do we not have a fic diving in to the massive differences between humans and witches, Lumity, Multi, No Beta I will take my mistakes to the face head on, Okay so I caved, Physiological Difference, THEY HAVE A MAGIC BILE SAC ON THEIR HEART FOR G-D'S SAKE, and i don't regret it, so i've decided to write
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:14:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26572015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarztheIncredible/pseuds/MarztheIncredible
Summary: Luz sometimes forgets that she’s the only human on the Boiling Isles. Thus, culture shocks become the norm when she hangs out with her mentor and friends.
Relationships: Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Comments: 207
Kudos: 1486





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so as soon as the show introduced pointed ears and magic bile sacs on hearts I needed more. There's obviously going to be cultural differences added with the fact that witches are built different in this universe. Mannerisms? Societal Hierarchy? Their fascination with EARS? Come on yall, its right there and yet? So I'm taking a shot at this after consuming the show in one sitting. Enjoy!

It started with a laugh. 

Luz had said some joke that seemed only Gus could understand. Of course her human humor would rightfully amuse the former president of the Human Appreciation Society. The younger witchling had his head thrown back cackling at Luz’s humor when she noticed it. One of Gus’ teeth was missing. Where his canine tooth would reside, blank space was present. It didn’t make sense, Luz knows for a fact that one has all their adult teeth grown in at their age. Except for wisdom teeth, her  _ mami _ told her the horrors of wisdom teeth and she was NOT looking forward to those.

So, worried for her friend’s health she reaches over the lunch table she, Willow, and Gus had been gathered at, and takes Gus’ face in her hands and prying his mouth open.

“Gus, did you have an accident? You’ve lost a tooth!”

“Nah I’ove hust losh ‘my aey ‘angs.” He replied with the best of his ability and realizing that Luz could not understand a word he said, she released her hold and sat back. Her eyes were wide and filled with concern and confusion as Willow giggled beside her and Gus rubbed his cheeks with a smile.

“Don’t worry Luz! I’m not hurt! My adult fangs are finally coming in!” Gus stated proudly with his chest puffed out. 

The human blinked. “Adult fangs?!” Her hands flapped excitedly. “You guys have fangs?!” She looked between Willow and Gus, opening her own mouth and pointing to her own set of teeth. “Are they like these?” She points to where her own canines are and Willow leaned in. Luz could see her raise an eyebrow under her spectacles as she hummed. 

“Do humans not lose their baby fangs until they're older?” Willow questioned. At this question, Luz closed her mouth and shook her head. 

“Humans don’t have fangs!” She states. “We do have baby teeth, but we lose them when we’re around six to eight years old.”

“So that's as big as your fangs are going to get?!” Gus asked in horror, hand pressed against his chest. “How are you going to intimidate your enemies and impress your crush?”

At this, Luz’s confusion sky rockets as she hears Willow sigh before her. “You’ve been eavesdropping on the older boys to get cool points again haven’t you Gus?”

Gus’ dark skin flushes in embarrassment. “Maybeeee.” He averts his eyes from Willow’s look. “But am I wrong?”

Sensing her friend’s confusion, Willow hums and turns to face Luz to give her an explanation. “Luz, have you ever noticed that when we smile at you, we don’t show our teeth?”

Luz thinks long and hard at the interactions she’s had with her friends. Other than pictures, when talking with each other, Willow, Gus, and even Amity never outright gave a cheesy smile to show off their pearly whites. She answers Willow’s question with a nod of realization and a snap of her fingers. “Yeah! In fact the only time I can think someone has done that was Boscha, when she was being mean, and when I first met Eda.”

“Right.” Willow responds. “Well, it's considered rude or a threat if you bare your fangs at someone. It’s an old intimidation tactic when witches wanted to start duels over petty reasons a long time ago. Unless you’re really close to someone we keep our pointed teeth to ourselves!” 

Intimidation? Luz is now going over all the times she’s shown off her impeccable flossing routine to her friends. Oh crammity, is that why Amity gets flustered around her all the time?! Because she’s a dolt who doesn’t understand how  _ anything _ works on this Isle?

“ _ Dios _ ,” she mutters in horror. “Have I been insulting you guys this whole time?!” Her hands grab onto her hair in worry as her gaze flickers back and forth between her two friends. Both Gus and Willow laugh and the younger boy shakes his head.

“No Luz! You’re perfectly fine! You still have your baby fangs, so your smile is considered more cute than threatening!” Gus reassures her.

Although learning all this, Luz doesn’t know if she should be insulted or flattered at that notion. At least that's one small comfort, now she won’t have to focus on keeping her mouth closed when she shows a sliver of joy. Maybe the next time she sees Amity, she’ll make sure to give her the biggest non-intimidating grin she’s ever seen!


	2. A Demon a Day Keeps the Healers Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um...wow. I wake up to see that I have 200 kudos overnight???? I didn't even expect 50! I'm glad there's people here interested in this as much as I am thanks you guys! If any of yall wanna scream at me about this fic or fics in general my twitter is @1ncredibleMarz
> 
> Enjoy the next chapter!

“Eda are you sure this is edible?”

The wayward occupants of the Owl House were gathered around the table eating their evening meal. Lilith releases this comment as she watches Luz poke at her portion of food adorned on her plate. Her tongue was stuck out in concentration as she stuck her fork in what seems to be some fried fish that hisses whenever the girl poked it.

Eda glances over at her sister, who’s eyeing her hard work with distaste. “Hm?” Eda hums and swallows her food before responding. “You’ve had demonic trout before, could’ve sworn it was your favorite when we were kids.”

“Yes, when it's  _ boiled _ . It keeps all of its nutritional value when properly prepared.” Lilith quips, her own utensil flakes a piece off and small little screams release into the air as the white meat is exposed to the air.

Eda snorts and points her fork at her sister. “Aw please Lil, learn to live a little! Fish is still fish fried or boiled! Besides!” Her head cants over to her young apprentice. “Luz seems to appreciate my cooking more than you do.” 

Lilith’s heterochromatic gaze catches the human who’s now stuffing her face in glee, giggling with her mouth full as hisses and screams emit from her plate. The former coven witch sighs in reluctance and takes what she can get, no use in starving herself. As she takes a bite her eyes light up in surprise. The fish was surprisingly flavorful, whatever spice Eda used it gave the entre quite a pleasant kick.

When Eda’s wry grin reaches her sight, Lilith huffs and looks away. “It’s good.” she utters. “But next time, I will make sure you cook vegetables with this meal. You have a growing witchling in the house.”

That seemed to be Luz’s cue to speak. She was sitting back in her chair patting her tummy in content bliss. “It was great Eda! It tasted like chicken!” Her eyes glance to the clock in the kitchen and her eyes then brighten in excitement. “Oh! Amity is coming over in an hour for our Azura book club-sleepover!” The human gets up quickly, grabbing her plate and rushing to the sink to wash it. 

“Woah woah, slow down kid.” Eda stands up and walks over to Luz, ruffling her hair affectionately. “I got this, you go get your room ready for this book club thing. There’s extra blankets and pillows in the storage closet.”

Eda is quickly encompassed by Luz who’s rapidly saying ‘thank you’ into her stomach. She quickly lets go and runs to rush upstairs. Lilith’s and Eda’s ears pull back when they hear the expected crash and yell “I’m okay!” a few seconds after.

The two sisters lapse into a somewhat comfortable if albeit awkward silence and routine as they clean the kitchen. Lilith put on a kettle of water for her post meal tea and some human concoction called hot cocoa for the two children who will be occupied in Luz’s room. She also placed a small pot of apple blood on boil for Eda, who gave her a grin in appreciation.

“How you drink that stuff everyday is beyond me sister.” Lilith huffs.

“Bah, you’re too stiff! Apple blood is the secret that keeps me buzzing and beautiful.” The owl lady bats her eyelashes and fluffs her hair dramatically. 

“You sure it's not because of the alcohol?” Lilth raises a brow.

Eda chuckles and waves her hand in a dismissive manner. Her reply was interrupted by the last voice anyone in the house wanted to hear.

“Hey! Scary green haired girl is here! OOOOoooo leftovers” 

The demonic house tube stuck his head through the archway leading to the living room. Eda squawks and quickly grabs a nearby broom to shoo Hooty away. “Hooty how many times do I have to tell you, you are not allowed in the kitchen!”

“Toooooooo many! Hoot!”

“Out!”

“Ow! Okay! Jeez! Hoot!”

Green hair peeks around the corner after Hooty has been chased out. Amity Blight stands before the two older witches with a small hesitant smile on her face. A purple bag was slung over her shoulder as she waved to Eda.

“Hi Miss Eda.”

“Kid, I told you not to call me that. Luz is upstairs waiting for you, hot chocolate should be done for you two in a few minutes.” Eda says as she leans on the broom stick. Her grin seems to widen as a small blush appears on Amity’s face at the mention of Luz’s name. Amity’s blush darkens at the grin as she quickly stammers her thanks and runs upstairs.

Lilith feels her ears droop once her former protégé is gone. She releases a drawn out sigh. “She still won’t speak to me.” She feels Eda’s arm wrapped around her shoulders. In her other hand the broom is gone and her mug of warm apple blood is in hand. A soothing rumble seems to come from Eda’s throat, it was short and as soon as it started it stopped. The noise was enough to calm Lilith from her increasing anxiety. 

“Relax Lilith.” Eda takes a sip of her drink. “She’ll come around eventually, you did almost kill the little witch’s human crush. And used her to cheat. Honestly you cheating still makes me shed a tear in joy.” 

Lilith buries her head in her hands. “We agreed to never speak of it.” she hisses. 

Laughter erupts from her sister raspy and harsh but filled with fondness. It was cut short when the other resident demon in the house called out for Eda from upstairs.

“Eda! Something’s wrong with Luz!”

Lilith feels Eda’s entire aura shift from carefree to instant worry. She follows her sister quickly up the stairs to Luz’s room, standing by the doorway as Eda rushes in. As Lilith looks in she sees the human curled up into a ball groaning softly. She was clutching her stomach and bronze skin was tinted with green. She noted how Luz’s head was placed in Amity’s lap and Lilith also to note how this was the first time she’s seen Amity not blushing furiously for being in such close contact with Luz. All that was present on her face was worry as Eda approached the two and kneeled down, placing a hand on Luz’s forehead.

“What happened?” Eda asked.

Amity bit her lip and shook her head. “I’m not sure, when I came up here she was like this.”

King was beside Eda, clutching a stuffed bear that had one eye missing. “Maybe Luz isn’t appeased with her lack of subjects! Here! Sir Reginald has displeased me and needs a new master!” The little demon shuffles near Luz and places it near Luz, hoping to cheer her up. It does cause Luz to look and give King a shy smile. As she opened her mouth to say thank you, Lilith watches as the color drains from her face and she slaps a hand over her mouth. Eda’s eyes widen as she guesses what’s about to happen. Along the wall of Luz’s rooms were human oddities that she pushed to the side to make space for her things. Eda luckily found a metal bucket in the pile and placed it in front of Luz, who scrambled off Amity's lap to heave into it.

Lilith did not expect the flames.

As soon as Luz was finished releasing the contents of her stomach into the bucket, smoke started billowing out of the container, it was the only warning they all had before flames erupted vertically out of the bucket. Both Amity and Luz screamed as Amity grabbed Luz from behind to pull her away. Eda quickly grabbed some glyph paper scattered on the floor of Luz’s room and hastily scribbled a water glyph, tapping and aiming it at the flames. 

Silence gathered between the five of them as they stared at the smoldering hunk of metal. Glancing at Luz, it seemed to be that she looked a little bit better but was still clutching at her stomach and sadness adorned her face.

“I’m sorry.” Luz uttered, and Lilith’s heart clenched at the tone. Her voice was still raw from her earlier exertion and was tinged with sadness.

“No need to apologize kiddo.” Eda responded softly. “Is your stomach still upset?”

Luz grimaces and nods, and Lilith hums from the doorway, gathering the attention of the others. “Which stomach?”

It takes a moment for Luz to realize that everyone in the room is expecting her to answer. “ _ Que? _ I-I’m sorry did you say  _ which _ stomach?” The human glances around at everyone, Eda is blinking owlishly in confusion, Lilith has her eyes narrowed and glancing up to see Amity, her lips are in the shape of an ‘o’ and noting that Luz is still technically in her lap and staring at her, red quickly blooms across her face to the tips of her ears.

“Huma-I mean Luz, do you not have a second stomach for detoxifying demonic impurities you consume?” Lilith asks. She has to have something, since Lilith has lived here with Eda she has seen Luz eat a variety of Boiling Isle delicacies, although this is the first time they’ve had a meal of demonic origin. 

“No??? Isn’t that what your liver is supposed to do?!” 

After calming Luz down and assuring her she was not going to be possessed or die from eating a demon fish, Eda and Lilith watched from the kitchen as Amity read aloud to Luz on the couch. She was wrapped in a fluffy blanket and surrounded by King’s loyal subjects with a mug of stomach soother potion held in her hands.

“Well,” Eda quips. “Guess we’ll have to cut demon food from our diet.”

Lilith laughs and sits back with her own mug of tea. “That’s a good thing, I could lose a couple pounds.” 


	3. Deep Cut

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Chapter for you all! I enjoy writing these and diving into my own little headcannons, Season 2 can't come soon enough yall

Luz was always fascinated about learning new things on the Boiling Isles, especially magic! Each day something was added to her ever expanding new world she was in. Even if there were some ups and downs. Sure, she had the best witch mentor ever, but there was the fact that she was the most wanted witch on the Isle and a habit for conning (which adds to her ever increasing bounty). And yeah, the food was amazing even though it still moved, but after puking flames, Luz was a bit hesitant to eat anything with more than six eyes or whispered demonic tongues in your mouth while you chewed. 

Besides the little things, the one thing Luz loved was the culture, and her lack of knowing anything about it. She had so many questions! Scenarios and theories of her day by day interactions added to the other quirks in her brain. Of course there was the occasional disconnect and miscommunications between her friends, but that was easy to rectify! The most glaring thing on her mind though were the shiny embedded rocks that adorned the chest of most of the adult witches. 

They were so pretty, each one was different and unique it seemed. The gems vaguely reminded her of a cartoon she watched back on earth, something about intergalactic sapphic geodes or something. At first, Luz believed Eda was the only one who had one. Then, when she met Lilith at the Convention for the first time and saw her own diamond gem on her chest, she got more curious. Luz thought it was some fancy fashion statement, but seeing Eda in her sleepwear with her gem peeking out of her bad girl coven shirt put a stop to that theory. 

That’s when Luz started to pay attention to more of the older witches. Some had them and some didn’t, though the ones with the lack of jewel seemed to be younger than the ones that did. At some points, she also saw couples in a tender embrace, all almost in the same position. Foreheads were touched against one another and if one partner had a gem, their lover’s hand would be placed upon it, almost as if protecting it from outside elements. It was quite romantic and Luz was a sap for it, it gave her plenty of ideas for her next Azura fanfiction…

Regardless, Luz let the little node of curious information and questioning fall into the back of her mind until the topic became the most interesting thing that’s happened at Hexside.

Lunch was one of the only times that she and her friends could all gather in one spot during school. Willow, Gus, and even Amity were gathered at their table today, disgruntled looks all adorned their face and Luz was immediately curious. 

“Hey guys!” Luz sat down next to Willow, with Amity and Gus facing in front of her. “What’s with the long faces?” She heard Amity huff and a soft growl emitted from her lips before she spoke.

“Atticus had his gem embedded and now he’s walking around school think he’s the best thing since sliced dread.”

Although the metaphor of ‘sliced dread’ threw Luz off for just a moment, she put that in the ‘questions to ask later’ compartment in her mind and brought forth the ‘pretty gems’ to the forefront. “Gem? Like what Eda and Lilith have on their chest? What are they anyway?”

Amity quirks a brow, and at Luz’s excited look to learn something new, she clears her throat and looks away with a blush as she explains. “When a witch's magic matures, or if their bile sac can’t contain the amount of magic they have, they have a gem embedded in their chest. Each gem is different and depending on the witch's connection to it, it can help stabilize or increase their magical output.” The green haired witchling reaches under her uniform shirt to pull out a necklace that Luz has seen before. A teardrop shaped amethyst is held in the outstretched palm of Amity’s hand. “Sometimes if a young witch finds a gem she’s synced with, they can cut a small piece and wear it to help out with their magic.”

“Woah…” Luz breathes out in awe. One of her hands reaches over to Amity’s open palm. Her fingers brush against Amity’s fingers before touching the gem. “It’s warm!” the Latina gasps. She looks up quickly and sees Amity red in the face, lips pressed together. “Oh no! Was I not supposed to touch it? ¡ _ Lo siento _ Amity!”

Luz hears Willow snicker beside her and there's a pat on her shoulder. “It’s fine Luz, the reason it’s warm is because Amity’s magic is in it!” she states.

The human turns her attention to Willow as realization dawns on her face. “When Eda....saved me from Lilith.” She trails off before picking her voice back up. “Her gem, I noticed that it turned pitch black when she ran out of magic.”

This time it’s Gus who helpfully speaks up. “Oh, that could be part of Eda’s curse.” His voice is more quiet than usual, knowing the topic they speak of is sensitive. “There’s some witches that believe once you have a gem, it's an open gateway to your soul or emotions.”

Luz thinks back on the couples she’s seen in Bonesbourgh and suddenly, a lot of their actions make sense. “Wow, that’s deep.” she says brow furrowed, and as her thoughts drift to Eda and her predicament, causing Luz to frown.

Willow nods. “It is a lot to take in. You can always ask Eda more about it too!”

Luz smiles widely, be it a tad bit forced and agrees with Willow, soon the topic moves on to classes and the next grudgby match, with Luz’s mind buzzing with new information.

When Luz returned home, she found Eda lounging on the couch, reading some old tome. She was in her usual attire indicating that she had to have gone out somewhere today. Luz’s eyes couldn’t help but hone in on the dark abyss located on Eda’s chest and a sense of guilt suddenly overcame her. She squeezed her eyes shut feeling the familiar burn of oncoming tears blur her vision and her backpack, still adorned on her, was held in a vice grip in her hands. 

“Luz! How was school? You won’t believe what I-Luz? What’s wrong?”

Although her sight was obscured, she could hear Eda get up and fell her hands on her shoulders. Opening her eyes and seeing her mentor’s concerned face was all Luz needed for her to turn on the waterworks.

“Luz?!” Eda grunts as a bawling human wraps around her waist, the backpack straps digging into her stomach and her apprentice babbling incoherent apologies and blame.

“Imsorry! Itsmyfaultthatyoucan’tdomagicanymoreandyourgemisdark!” 

It took a moment for Eda to decipher Luz, but as soon as she understood she gently pried Luz away from her and crouched down. “Luz, look at me.” Luz took a few seconds for her to calm down, tears still gathered at her eyes as she stared eye level with Eda. Eda carefully takes Luz’s hand and guides it to her gem, and in an instant Luz’s eyes widen in disbelief. It thrums with subdued energy, but underneath her palm Luz could feel a steady rhythm, similar to a heartbeat, spreading throughout her hand.

“I-it’s warm.”

Eda hums and quirks her lips. She reaches up to affectionately ruffle Luz’s hair. “Yup kiddo, there’s still some magic left in me.” Eda stands up once more and this time she is the one who initiates the hug. “And we have to work on your hero complex, how many times do I have to tell you it wasn’t your fault?”

Luz releases a watery laugh. “I know...thanks Eda.” she squeezes her tight.

“Any time Kid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! A little Angst(tm) never hurt anyone. This chapter was a joy to write and had me delve into some biology for a moment. Does the magic bile sac have its own rhythm? It has to since essentially with the hear acting as a pump it needs its own separate input and output cycle for magic, no? Who knows! Scream at me on twitter, @1ncredibleMarz


	4. Thick Skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's flip the script shall we?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um wow, 500 kudos??? Thank you all so much! I never imagined this little thing to get so much traction but here we are! Enjoy this next chapter!

Luz is an anomaly.

Amity  _ still _ cannot understand the reason how Luz burrowed her way into her heart, keeping it aflutter and alive with new feelings. Each day at Hexside, Amity looked forward to seeing the resident human. Luz would always give her a dazzling baby-fanged smile (that was way too cute, but she would never admit that), an enthusiastic wave, and her voice alerting the hallways that she was present. 

The young Blight could feel her cheeks heating up at the thought, her Azura book clutched tightly within her arms as she made her way to the library. ‘ _ It’s just a small crush, Luz is your friend! Your weird, adorable, pretty-’  _

“Amityyyyy!”

The voice that brightened her days reached Amity’s ears as she reached the entrance of the library. She could feel them perk at Luz’s call, and startled out of her intrusive thoughts, she nearly tripped on her own two feet.

“Woah there!”

Warmth seeps through the long sleeves of her dress as Luz steadies her. The human’s grip is strong but not hurtful and Amity looks up, sputtering a thank you as she attempts to regain her composure. She laughs softly as she sees Luz’s bright grin, her eyes are closed with how hard she’s smiling and open when she hears Amity’s embarrassed amusement. 

“Thanks Luz, are you ready for our meeting today?”

Luz nods enthusiastically, Amity fears that her head will roll off with how vigorous her head is moving back and forth. “Yeah!” she exclaims. “We’re gonna be reading my favorite chapter from book 2!” Luz points to the book Amity still has in her hands. 

Amity hums in acknowledgment as they walk side by side into the library. “Well, it is your turn to read, honestly now I’m thinking you rigged our system when you offered to read twice in a row last week.” she quirks a brow in question.

Seeing Luz chuckle sheepishly and rubbing the back of her head does something to her heart, she swears it skips a beat at such a simple action, but Amity refuses to acknowledge it. They chat about classes and Luz’s crazy schemes with Eda on the way to their hideaway. The sheer thought of calling it  _ theirs _ has Amity wanting to curl up in a ball and scream for hours on end, but she likes to think that she is poised and nonchalant in front of Luz.

Of course that all disappears in a matter of minutes. 

Amity is enraptured as Luz reenacts the reveal of the true villain in the end of Azura’s quest in Book two. Her voice changes to match the characters and she expertly maneuvers around the room emulating the fight scenes with adept accuracy. Amity thinks it's wonderful, Luz had placed light glyphs in numerous places throughout the room beforehand. Spheres of lumination set the room into comfortable lighting and Amity knows right then that she is in trouble.

“ _ Ack!  _ Drat, paper cut!” Luz hisses out. She places the book on the table, sits down, and sticks her index finger in her mouth.

The green-haired witch balks for a moment, and impulse dictates her actions before she’s aware. “Luz that’s unsanitary!” She quickly takes Luz’s hand within both of her own to take a look at the wound. 

Amity instantly knows something is different.

First, Luz’s hand is warm as if she’s always holding a ball of light in her hand. Secondly, Amity is pretty sure she’s feeling some leftover saliva from Luz’s attempt to  _ ‘heal _ ’ herself, gross. Thirdly, the most important and pressing concern, was the rough patches she felt along Luz’s palm, some where the crease of her fingers and palm met, others at the tip of her finger tips. Amity couldn’t help herself, her own unmarked fingers traced over the strange patches, she could feel her brow furrowed in confusion. 

“Luz, are these boils on your hands?” Amity looks up at her friend as she asks and is surprised to see a light blush on Luz’s face. At Amity’s question, Luz blinks and looks down at their joined hands. A soft giggle releases from her lips and Amity squeaks as Luz takes her uninjured hand to guide Amity’s to the rough marks on her palm.

“Boils? No! Their callouses! It means I’m a hardworking gal! We don’t have healing spells to instantly cure all things, so our bodies adapt naturally to some injuries!” 

Amity is slightly amazed, and Luz continues her explanation by pointing to the different patches on her hand. “Most of these I earned, climbing trees a lot back home, but I started getting them when me and my  _ Mami _ would garden! I could never keep a plant alive but I loved digging holes! So  _ Mami _ let me use the shovel.  _ This _ one was from-”

As Luz trailed off Amity found herself lost in the feeling of Luz’s hand, it was soft yet strong at the same time and Amity was content to die here in this secluded room in the library as long as Luz held her hand in hers explaining the resilience of humans. 

“Amity? Amity!”

Luz’s slightly panicked voice snapped Amity out of her musings. “What? What’s wrong!?”

“There’s ah, blood all over the table.”

Oh right the paper cut, Amity sighs. “Well let’s make sure we clean it up, you never leave spilled blood unsupervised.”

“Oh yeah! That was on the Oracle quiz yesterday!”

Yes, Amity can  _ still _ not find out how Luz burrowed her way into her heart, but as she bandages Luz’s wound and listens to her friend info-dump to her about reading the future in different types of blood, she finds that she can be comfortable in the uncertainty of it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lumity stans come get ya'll juice. 
> 
> Anyways considering magic can almost do everything on the Boil Isles, even CONSTRUCTION. Would the old fashion way of knowing a farm hand through callouses even apply in the witch world?


	5. Vibrations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short little chapter for yall! And almost being at 700 kudos?!!!! I'm grateful you guys, it means alot! I've also read everyone's comments and appreciate the input and discussions that are coming alive from the fic! Makes me feel all giddy!

“You can do this!”

“I can do this!”

“You’re fierce!”

“Yeah!”

“Tough!”

“Yeah!”

“Handsome!”

“YEAH!”

“They’ve been hyping themselves up for the past ten minutes.” Amity drawled. 

Luz hummed as she nibbled on something that tasted like pretzel sticks. She, Willow, Emira, and Amity were out in the grudgby field. The girls were sitting on the bleachers watching Gus and Edric screaming positive vibes at each other after school. Luz still didn’t know why, but it was quite entertaining. 

“Ah, you know boys Mittens! Yelling at each other seems to be the only way they can convey their feelings.”

From the corner of her eye, Luz sees Amity’s older sister wrap her arm around the younger’s shoulders. Amity bared her fangs at Emria in annoyance and a short hiss was released between her teeth. Emira simply returned the action with a far more friendly grin on her own and stuck her tongue out at Amity.

“Alright my young student! You’re ready!” Edric’s voice caused the girls to turn their attention back to the field. Gus looked determined, a serious look on the younger boy’s face. Edric stepped up to Gus and placed his hands on his shoulders. “Take a deep breath. Feel your magic flow in time with the rhythm of your heart, that’s it, now build up your voice in your throat-don’t release! Aaaaaand go!”

“Grrrrreeeek-ack!”

What Luz could only assume would be a low growl at first emitted from Gus’ lips, she gasped. It was low and guttural, almost animalistic in nature and _loud_. It was cut off as soon as it started as the low almost euphonious tone shifted into a voice crack then hacking coughs.

Willow giggled beside her and shook her head fondly at their friend. “Well, we know bard magic won’t be his strong suit at least.” 

“Wait, we came out here to hear Gus growl? I thought him and Edric were gonna practice some cool illusion spell.” Luz scratched her head as she watched Amity’s brother pat Gus on the shoulder, muttering to him advice as he gestures to his chest.

Willow turned to face Luz, her head tilted and a patient grin upon her face. “Well that was the plan at first, but when Gus’ voice cracked in the middle of lunch I think his priorities changed.”

At this comment Amity snickered, but Luz just found herself more confused, brow furrowing in thought. “Is this a guy thing or a witch thing I don’t know about?” She watches Willow push up her glasses in thought. A hum reaching Luz’s ears.

"Both, I guess?” Willow shrugs. “I kind of don’t get it either to be honest with you.”

Suddenly a weight settled on Luz’s shoulders and Emria’s voice was beside her head. “Allow me to explain, oh oblivious freshies!” Luz squeaked at the sudden intrusion and turned quickly to see Amity frowning behind her sister and Emria giving both Willow and Luz a rather mischievous grin. “Willow, you already know this, but our resident human here doesn’t.”

Emira once again brings Amity close (much to her annoyance), slinging her arm around her shoulders. “You see Luz there’s many ways to show affection here on the boiling isles, be it pranks, sacrifices, or the occasional summoning of a demon to ask one out to grom. Buuuuut, there’s also another way and that’s by sound!” 

Luz watched as Amity attempted to be released from Emria’s grip, but soon stopped as a soothing rumble was released from her older sister. The human watched in fascination as Amity stiffened but then slowly relaxed in Emira’s embrace, eyes slightly drooping as if a sleep spell suddenly took hold of her. With a sudden realization, Luz became aware that Emira was _purring_. In a rare display of public affection from the siblings, Emira leaned down and nuzzled Amity’s hair, causing it to become loose from her usual style.

It was sweet and heartwarming and Luz found her own heart aching at such a familial gesture.

When Emira ceased her purring, and Amity became aware once more, she was blushing furiously and quickly attempted to put her hair back up. “Emira! I am not five anymore!” Amity snapped, her own low sounding rumble of a snarl gracing her words.

Emria just smiled, her own eyes slightly drooped as if the action was calming for her as well. “Because we can pick up more noises than most,” Emira continued as if nothing happened, “Sounds are ways to express ourselves! They're are whole theories on how we can incorporate it into our magic when you get into advanced bard classes. As for our boys down there, I think little Gus might just be excited he can properly growl now.”

Indeed, Gus seemed to be preening at Edric as he made his second attempt, this one more solid and consistent. “I am the growl master!” He whooped, pumping his fists in the air. Edric laughed alongside him and scooped Gus up to place him atop of his shoulders as they ran around the field. 

Luz could never seem to catch up with the never ending differences in the Isles, regardless she went with the flow anyways. If Gus was happy of the newfound noise he could make, she was happy! A hand was placed on her head and Luz looked up to see Emira giving Luz a smirk and spoke once more. “Make sure you give the little illusionist lots of praise, yeah?” The eldest Blight sister gives her a wink and Luz can feel a small blush forming on her cheeks. 

As Emira leaves, Luz decisively ignores Amity’s own impressive growl at her sister and Willow’s seemingly all-knowing look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come scream at me on Twitter/Tumblr! @1ncredibleMarz (Twitter)/Kyaianthewriter (tumblr)


	6. Habitual Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I named Willow's dads, and the sheer lack of them in fics sickens me. I've come to rectify that. Also miniscule angst for just like a split second. Give me more parental figures for Luz I BEG. Anyways Enjoy!

“Thanks for getting me out of that Mercury Witchtrap Willow! I thought I was a goner today in class!”

Willow giggled as Luz walked backwards in front of her. Her uniform was torn in some places as they recount the events at school today.

“Of course Luz!” Willow replied. “I couldn’t let one of my best friends get eaten could I?” She watched as Luz released her own laugh and nodded. The action caused more coordination that Luz couldn’t contain, thus resulting in her tripping from her rearward walk.

“Gah!”

Luz fell on her back with a huff and Willow quickly closed the distance between them, offering her friend a hand. 

“Are you okay Luz?”

Luz’s own calloused hands made contact with Willow’s own as she helped her friend up. The human smiled all the while as if nothing was wrong.

“Yup! Sorry! I’m just excited for our study session at your house today! I’m all over the place worrying about our test tomorrow.”

Willow nodded and hummed in agreement. Luz had told her that she absolutely sucked at taking care of plants. Other than her glyphs that brought forth an agalmanation of plant life, Luz’s physical green thumb was more black than verdant. Thus, when their teacher for plant magic announced a sudden test, Luz seemed to be resided in her fate to fail.

“Don’t worry Luz! We’ll have you taking care of even the simplest weed by tonight!” They continued their walk to Willow’s place and Willow herself could hardly contain her own excitement. It was going to be the first time she’s had a friend over in a long time! She was positive her dads were excited too. Her papa was probably cooking every meal known on the Boiling Isles as they reached closer to her home.

“Yeah I hope so! The last time I tried to be a nurturing mother, I killed Spiky.” Luz sniffed and placed a hand over her heart with a bowed head. “Rest in peace my thorny son.”

Willow laughed and shook her head fondly. “To this day I still don’t know how you killed a cactus.”

“He was very needy!”

The two made friendly banter back and forth and the closer they got to Willow’s house, the quieter Luz seemed to become. In fact she seemed nervous of all things. Her hands fidgeted with the hem of her school uniform, and Willow was grateful that Luz didn’t have any fangs, there would probably be a decent hole in her lip by the way she was worrying it.

She placed a hand on Luz’s shoulder as they stood in front of her door, Willow could feel her brow furrow in concern as she look up slightly to catch Luz’s eye.

“Are you okay?”

This seemed to startle Luz out of whatever she was thinking and Willow watched as she quickly regained her baring. 

“W-what? Oh yeah! Everything’s fine! Perfectly peachy.”

The witchling knew her friend was lying by the inflection of her voice and her eyes looking at anything except her, but Willow decided to let it go for now. Her ears perked at the sound of one of her parent’s voices approaching the door and the sound of the lock unlatching. 

“Ah, are my ears deceiving me or do I hear a guest at our home?”

Warm light and comfort food surrounded Luz’s and Willow’s senses and seeing her papa’s smiling face, eyes crinkled behind his spectacles had Willow breaking out her own grin and laugh as she ran up to embrace him. 

Papa’s hugs were warm and encompassing, he smelled like flour and vegetables telling Willow of his recent task of cooking. The steady welcoming vibration of his purr seeped through Willow’s bones and made her feel safe. She responded with one of her own before letting go and having him place her back down on the ground.

“Welcome home little flower.”

“Thanks papa,” Willow turns back to Luz, who’s standing awkwardly at the doorway, not sure what to do with herself. The plant witch takes hold of Luz’s arm and brings the human back beside her. “This is Luz! She’s the friend I’ve been telling you and dad about!”

Papa gives Luz a warm smile and gestures them inside. “Ah, so this is the spitfire that help Willow show us her true potential hm?”

Luz stammers a bit, nodding vigorously “Ah y-yes sir! I’m glad I was able to help Willow transfer! She’s really good at plant magic!”

The three of them walk to the kitchen and this is where Willow sees her dad trying (and failing) to not catch whatever food was on the stove on fire. A nervous sweat broke out on his brown skin and a uncharastically high-pitched yelp came from the large man as a stay ember landed on his beard. 

She hears her papa sigh fondly as he quickly walks over to the stove and looks inside the pot. Dad coughs awkwardly, clearing his throat as he attempts to give his husband a charming smile. He then notices his daughter and friend, giving him a feeble excuse to step away from the stove.

Willow giggles as her father crouches down, ruffles her hair, and stage-whispers to both her and Luz. “How does take out sound tonight you two? Your old man may have been good at potions, but when it comes to actual food, I am no chef.”

“As long if its okay with papa, dad.”

Papa, who’s pouring out smoking black sludge in the trash, nods. “Take out it is, honestly Gideon I leave you at the stove for ten seconds.” he huffs in amusement.

Gideon winks at the two girls as he replies. “You know me Braccus, my love, I’ve only survived this long because of you and our little flower’s amazing cooking skills.” He stands up and turns his attention to Luz. “So this is the ‘amazing best friend’ that I’ve been hearing about!”

“Dad!”

“What?”

Throughout the entire exchange, Luz’s eyes had been wide in awe at the interactions. When the attention was brought upon her she gave Gideon an excited smile and a nod. “Yeah! Willow’s abomination-turned-best friend, Luz Noceda at your service! It’s nice to meet you Mr. Willow’s dads.”

Gideon barks out a laugh, deep and kind. “Please, you can call me Gideon if you’d like! And our resident chef and loving husband is Braccus.”

Willow’s papa waves to Luz as he scrubs the burnt gunk out the pan. “You girls can go ahead and study for a bit while we order the take-out. Luz, is there anything you can’t eat?”

“Uh, I’m demonic-intolerant?”

Papa blinks in surprise and laughs. “Well I am too! I think you’ll like what I’ll have then. We’ll call you down when the food gets here.”

Willow and Luz thank the two adults, and with buzzing excitement that Willow has expertly kept contained until this point, leads Luz to her room. 

To say Luz is amazed is an understatement. Willow’s room is almost entirely covered in plants, skylights that allow the setting sun in, cast a seldom golden glow in the space. Green foliage creeps up the walls of the room, and the variety of different colors from the various blooms makes even the blankest space seem alive. Willow gives Luz a tour, pointing out every single plant, vine, and flower that adorns her windowsills and open floor. 

They build a study nest, as Luz calls it. A collection of pillows and blankets in the middle of the floor to give them some sense of comfort. In between them Willow has a simple potted plant with a can of water next to them.

“Okay Luz, now when you water the plant make sure you don’t over do it. Just because it looks thirsty doesn’t mean it always is!”

“Mhm.”

The non-enthusiastic response breaks Willow out of her monologue and looking at her notes. Glancing up she can see, Luz’s frown and downward indent of her brow. Her head was rested in one hand while the other hand was tapping a random rhythm on her knee.

Willow closes her book, making a sharp thud at the action. She leans in, getting closer to Luz’s face and ceremoniously pokes her forehead. “Alright, what's wrong? You’ve been out of it more than usual since we’ve got here!”

Getting Luz out of her own head was a feat in itself, usually her thoughts consisted of some crazy scheme to find out a new glyph or something else magic related. This time though, instead of inquisitive excitement, there was forlorn hesitance. Luz rubbed her palms on her knees struggling to find words for a moment before she spoke.

“I know I don’t know a lot of things about the Isles, and the things I do learn always surprise me.” 

Willow nods at this, but doesn’t reply, letting her friend get out her thoughts.

“There are things that are just so normal  _ here _ , that aren’t at home. Some scary, but some relieving.” Luz pulls her knees up to her chin, seemingly making herself smaller as she embraces herself. “Like your dads.”

If it wasn’t for Willow’s keen hearing, Luz’s whisper would’ve been lost. At this statement, Willow became confused. What was so different in the human realm regarding her parents? 

Luz looked up, and Willow realized that she voiced her thoughts out loud. For a while Luz didn’t respond, her grip tensing on the fabric of her pants. However, slowly but surely her brown eyes steeled in sudden determination. She vents a harsh breath through her nose and with confidence breaks the silence in the room with a statement. 

“I like girls.”

Willow tilts her head. “Me too?”

It seems to surprise Luz that Willow isn’t phased and that she agrees in her sentiment. Suddenly flustered, Luz begins to stammer.

“A-and that's okay here right? To like either girls or guys, or both?”

Willow feels herself frowning, and worry creeps into her mind.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” 

That simple inquiry is all that Luz seemed to need, and the tension that had been bothering her friend for the past few hours fell away in an instant. The human seems to sag in relief. “Ah, well, nevermind!”

Willow would not let her best friend escape that easily and with naive, albeit mischievous, intention, a smirk finds a way to her face. 

“Is this about Amity?”

“W-what? No! Wait, what do you mean is it about Amity?”

Willow couldn’t quite see the blush on Luz’s skin, but the awkward laughter and averting eyes told all. Before Willow could get another teasing word in her Dad’s voice called from downstairs.

“Girls! Food is here!”

“Ahaha! Well whadya know! Dinner time! Best not keep your dads waiting yeah?”

Willow cackled in laughter as Luz stood up quickly and rushed to the door to avoid any more topics of romance. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scream at me on Twitter/Tumblr! @1ncredibleMarz (Twitter)/@kyaianthewriter (tumblr)


	7. Acute Hearing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew long time no see! AND HOLY COW 950 Kudos???? Thank you guys!
> 
> It took me a bit to pump out this chapter and I apologize! Might have added a little bit of introspection with Eda. Ah well, we're hear now! I've been looking at ya'lls comments and some of your ideas are amazing! I'm glad I can get folks thinking about how different witches and humans can be!
> 
> Enjoy the chapter guys! I hope to have a nice little Halloween chapter out in the next two weeks as well!

“Alright kid! Chop chop! You have school tomorrow, and as much as I want to deny the educational institution the presence of my apprentice, you’d find a way to make me feel bad. So!” Eda clapped her hands and a small smile graced her lips. “Off to your nest!”

Luz groaned in discontent. “Aw come on Eda! Ten more minutes! I’m almost done with my masterpiece!” 

Said masterpiece was King standing upon a stool dressed up as some sort of monarch. He was attempting to keep still in a regal pose, fast food crown and all. Luz was behind her easel, her body covered more in paint than the canvas itself. To Eda’s pride, the painting was quite accurate, in her opinion at least. As much as the older witch wanted to indulge her young student, she recalled the tongue lashing Lilith gave her last time she let Luz pull an all nighter.

“Nope!” Eda quipped in response. “If you want your friends over tomorrow, you have to be awake! Bed!”

The human groaned as she began to pack up her art supplies. King screeched in relief and ripped the outfit binding him. “Freedom!” He exclaimed, stomping on his outfit as he held the crown on his head. “Begone foul confines! You make my fur itch no longer!”

Eda snickered at the demon’s antics and her ears perked at the somewhat more forceful than necessary clean up Luz was doing.”

“ _ Other witches get to stay up all night, why can’t I?” _

Obviously the comment was uttered at such a low tone that Eda wasn’t supposed to hear it. When Luz had gathered all her things, Eda walked up to her and affectionately ruffled Luz’s hair. “Other witches are nocturnal and are supposed to be up at night. You, little human, need all the rest you can get. Besides, we don’t want Lilith in our case like last time do we?”

A faint blush bloomed on Luz’s cheeks as Eda replied to her snark. “You heard that?!” she squeaked out. 

“IIIIII allllways here you Luz!!”

Eda’s ears pulled back at the grating house demon’s voice. “Can it Hooty!” She looks back down at Luz, who’s now giggling at the interaction. “Kid I hear everything! How do ya think I know the best places to set up shop and not get caught?”

“Blind luck?” Luz inquired. 

“Well that too,” Eda snorted. “Now, we’ve stalled long enough upstairs missy.”

“Alright, alright I’m going!”

* * *

Eda wasn’t surprised that Luz woke up late the next morning. As Luz scrambled to get ready for school, Eda caught Lilith’s “Look of Disapproval” (™) aimed at her. Being the cooler sister, Eda responded to Lilith’s stare with a stuck out tongue. The following squawk of indignation was worth it. 

“I’m ready!” Luz exclaimed, catching the owl lady’s attention.

Eda looked at her young apprentice, she was pretty sure that her uniform was inside out, eh, good enough. “Alright kid,” she said. “Lets hop on Owlbert and we’ll be on our way, yeah?” 

“Mhm!”

Luz was  _ only _ thirty minutes late, in Eda’s school days, that was on time for her! She made sure to give an affection pat to Luz’s head before she left and told the child she’d see her and her friends after school.

Work at her pop up shop was slow today, it was a given since her endless supply of human wares was now limited. A new face brought in a few new people today though. Eda snickered as her sister attempted to haggle some poor old sap for one of those large human earrings (Luz said they were wire hangers to put clothes on, but Eda thought otherwise). 

When the customer left, their wallet lighter a few snails, she watched Lilith sit down in a huff. “How you con people so easily, I’ll never know.” Lilith states.

The Owl Lady grins in response as she begins to pack up the shop, school is over and Luz should almost be home by now with the others in tow. “Well its definitely not hereditary, I’ll tell you that much.”

“Eda!”

“I know, I know. You’re trying and I appreciate that Lils, really.” They finish packing and locking up. Lilith had to run a few more errands in the market, so Eda and Owlbert made their way home. 

As the Owl House came into Eda’s view, she couldn’t help but feel tension release from her shoulders, an appreciative chirp from Owlbert graces her ears as her grip slackens. She utters out an apology to her companion when they land. Her palisman flying off his perch and settling on her shoulder. The smooth wood rubs against her cheek as Owlbert attempts to comfort her, and even seeing Hooty causes her to release a soft breath of relief.

Eda Clawthorne may be successful at avoiding the Emperor Coven’s gaze, but the rest of her parliament was not. Lilith with her being the former poster-child of the Coven. Then Luz, her sheer will to defy the Emperor, fight and outsmart him to save  _ her _ . Her hand stops on the handle of the front door, Eda is thankful for once that Hooty is quiet, his vigil calming and face seemingly melded to the door being only an accessory, movement non-existent.

She is not sure how much longer they can hide. Nor how long they can keep a sense of normalcy. Eda is afraid and she feels overwhelming emotion as her ears pin back to her head and a low keening whine escapes her throat. No, she has to steel herself before walking through this door. She cannot project her worries when Luz has her own. Eda loathes that she has to pretend that she hasn’t been hearing the quiet sobs coming from Luz’s room at night, the quiet hopeful promise in her voice as she speaks into her human scroll, wishing her mother was on the other side.

Eda is also selfish.

Through the door she can hear Luz as she laughs with her friends, such a noise that she has grown used to in the house along with King’s own cackles. Eda also knows that when they find a way to get Luz home, there is a large possibility that she would stay in the human realm. The elder witch refuses to dwell on the thought. Yet, the affectionate hugs, eager excitement, the hushed accidently slips of the word ‘mom’...

Yes Eda was selfish, she may have put off days of research to help discover a new portal and distract Luz with ideas to find new glyphs for spells. The simple thought of having one less soul in the house was crippling to her. She was just so tired.

“Eda?”

Ah, Hooty was awake now. The concern on his face didn’t suit him. Eda huffed out a hollow laugh and patted his head. “I’m alright Hoots, the kids okay?”

Hooty narrowed his eyes at Eda’s response, but responses in his usual tone. “Yeeeeuuup! No danger either! Oh! Other than that rat I ate and the strange man with all the envelopes.”

Great, Hooty ate the mailman again, gah she’ll deal with that later. She asked him to open up and when she entered the house she was in for quite a sight.

Her hearing was assaulted by the laughter of Willow and Gus who were seated on the floor in front of the couch. It seemed the children’s homework was long forgotten and Eda felt herself nod in approval at the procrastination. However, she was more curious at the reason why Willow and Gus were near tears on the ground. As her two-toned gaze looked at her apprentice sitting on the couch, she herself could start to feel a genuine chuckle release from her.

“Alright kid, what did you do to little Blight this time?”

Luz gives an impressive squawk as she looks up from a passed out Amity. “I-I don’t know!” She seems to be fanning the poor witchling with some pieces of paper. “We were studying and Amity was reeeealllly focused! She was reading and I kept seeing something move out of the corner of my eyes and realized it was her ears! I couldn’t help myself, it was just so cute and cool! I just reached over and touched them and Amity got super red and passed out! Oh gosh I killed her didn’t I?!!”

At this point Willow was wheezing and Gus was in the phase where there was no noise emitting from him, just tears.

Oh, bless her student. Perhaps Eda should take Lilith’s advice and have Luz enroll in biology class in the Healer’s track next semester. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scream at me on Tumblr: @kyaianthewriter and Twitter: @1ncredibleMarz


	8. Wheel of the Year (Samhain)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posted a day early because I'll be busy tomorrow so, Happy Early Halloween! All this chapter was a biiiiit of a struggle to write and not my best, but I hope you enjoy!

Luz refused to dwell on the fact that she’s been on the Boiling Isles almost three months longer than what she’s planned. Her mind would wander, conjuring images of her  _ Mami _ , most likely worried sick and wondering why her daughter hadn't returned from summer camp. 

_ “Or perhaps she believes you’ve run away. How selfish of you to leave her alone.” _

NOPE. Luz vented a harsh breath of air and squeezed her eyes closed really tight until the dark abyss behind her eyelids became a kaleidoscope of colors. Her intrusive thoughts became a whisper in the back of her mind, rather than a foreboding and constant hum that she couldn’t ignore. She had more important things to worry about today! She straightens herself out to look at her form in the mirror. This time a real witch's hat (not a dirty traffic cone) adorned her head, and in her hand was a makeshift staff she spent most of the night making out a large stick and cardboard.

Luz poses, thumb and forefinger underneath her chin as she grins, knock-off Azura is a success! Eda’s voice echoes throughout the house, letting her know that breakfast was ready. She squeals in excitement, boundless energy seemingly to come forth out of nowhere as she rushes down the stairs.

“Edaaaaaa! Look!”

Luz practically leaps into the kitchen, startling Lilith who starts choking on her tea. Eda holds a frying pan in one hand as she turns to look at her apprentice. Luz giggles at the ‘Kiss the Cook’ apron becoming Eda’s choice of decorative attire whenever she’s cooking. The Owl Lady raises an inquisitive brow giving Luz a once-over look and hums. “Uh-huh,” she drawls, ears twitching as she absent-mindedly listens to her sister hack at the table. “It’s a good look for you kid! Though you’ll have to replace that staff of yours when you’re ready for your palisman.” Her face breaks out into a grin as she gestures Luz to sit.

Luz feels her brow furrow but obliges to her mentor's instructions. “It’s not a new look Eda, it's a costume! For Halloween!” She sits next to King, placed in a high chair for today and face buried in his oatmeal. Luz is pretty sure he fell asleep in there if the snores were anything to go by.

Eda releases an impressive squawk. Placing the pan of eggs down on the table as her eyes widen. “Geez! Already? Bah, this is my favorite time of the year. It was the only day I was able to walk around in the human world and not look like a weirdo.” 

Luz stuffs her face as she listens to Eda talk about her shenanigans in the past years of the human holiday. Across from her Lilith seems to have recovered from her misplaced sip of tea. There is that ever-present frown on her lips and she’s staring at Eda as she explains her last and final year escape to the human realm.

“Sister, you better not be telling me you celebrated Samhain last year, it's forbidden!” Lilith quips, ire laced between disapproval as she speaks.

For once, Eda seems affected by her sibling’s words. A scowl replaces her enthusiastic grin and a low rumble of a warning growl threatens to release from her chest. “And,  _ you _ , better not spout that nonsense about how the old traditions are barbaric at  _ my _ table in  _ my _ house.”

Luz looks back and forth between the two, now she was more curious than ever. “Uh,” she begins hesitantly and raises her hand like a small child in a classroom. “What’s Samhain?”

Eda turns her head to give her attention back to her apprentice. She places her hands on her hips, her form once more exuding confidence. “Only one of the best holidays ever!” She walks over to a drawer in the kitchen, opening it up and rummaging through the confines of recipes and glyph paper. “Aha!” she exclaims. “Here it is!” Eda takes out a flooded and pressed down cloth that looks similar to a folded blanket and places it on the table. 

Luz releases an enthusiastic ‘ooo’ at the sight before her as Eda unfolds it. She hears Lilith intake a sharp breath of air as the cloth reveals itself to be a tapestry. A stark golden thread embroidered circle contrasts against the scarlet textile. Within the circle an eight-pointed star reaches out, each end directing to a different word and rune. Luz quickly found Samhain; it was placed at the top left, just before Yule, which was perfectly inline with the top-center of the circle.

“This,” Eda explains. “Is the Wheel of the Year. Before that crackpot of an emperor placed all his suffocating rules, all the witches and other species alike celebrated the eight cyclical days.” Luz’s eyes widen as she listens to Eda, her mentor's voice is shaking in unbridled excitement, as if she’s relieved to  _ finally  _ be talking about this. 

“Wild Magic,” she continues. “Was just simply ALL magic, and Witches celebrated the cycle of life to death, dark and light to these days.” Her finger points to Samhain and her voice softens. “This tapestry was our grandmother’s. We were young, but I remember her telling us stories about it.” Her voice trails off, Eda’s usual bravado non-existent as she stares at the Witches calendar. A noncommittal hum releases from her as she speaks up once more. “Samhain may be forbidden to celebrate now,” Her suddenly flash mischievously and a wry grin slowly makes itself known on Eda’s face. “But Halloween isn’t.”

“Eda,” Lilith chides. “The only ones who know of Halloween are yourself, Luz, and maybe some other human-obsessed witch on th-Luz, why are you laughing?”

Luz is bouncing up and down in her seat, near squealing in laughter. “You’re right Eda! We can start Halloween on the Boiling Isles! Oh, Gus and the others would love it!” Luz gives the courtesy of explaining Halloween in the human realm to Lilith, by this point King has awoken from his oat slumber and is listening aptly to Luz with interest.

"So let me get this straight,” King begins when Luz is finished giving the details, “You go around in fake skin, knock in strangers doors, and demand them to hand you sweets or be retaliated against?"

"Yeah!"

"I'm in!"


	9. Assembly Not Required

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heyo its been awhile! Sorry about that! New job is to blame! Here's a short little prompt on the Grudgby League Cards ToH have!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Did you know there is no rule where a human can't play Grudgby! But those who can't regrow their limbs aren't encouraged to play."

**Chapter 9: Assembly Not Required**

Luz  _ really _ should learn to read the fine print of things before diving head first into them. Obviously, Luz is more fragile than her witch friends. A given considering the world they reside in. She’s gotten used to some of the social cues! Toothy smile means mad, flicking ears means happy (she thinks, only because Amity does it a lot around her), and so far she’s pretty sure that the language everyone is speaking isn’t English, but she’ll worry about that later.

Luz believed she might have seen it all on her first adventure with Eda. Scary as it was to face the Warden, nothing was more terrifying than holding Eda’s decapitated head in her arms. She was positive nothing could top that experience.

Of course she was wrong.

So here she was, on a weekend afternoon with the sun warming the patch of grass she sits upon, with Willow’s leg casually laying in her lap. 

Luz is pretty sure that she’s been staring at it in horror and awe for the past five minutes. One moment she was watching her friends play in a small grudgby scrimmage, in the next Luz had heard an audible  _ Pop  _ and the wind knocked out of her as she fell back from a sudden impact to her chest. When she regained her senses Luz was positive her eyes were wide and felt her mouth drop. She looked down at the limb and back up to the field, a repeated motion that made her rather dizzy as she tried to comprehend what she was seeing.

The game continued as if nothing life-threatening just happened. Willow didn’t even bat an eye as she casually conjured a spell circle mid-play. The amalgamation of plant life taking place of what was missing. 

The lone human was at a loss. Her hands were hovering over her friends leg, afraid to make contact as if the very thing would combust if she did. The game finished up very quickly afterwards. Exchanges of good sportsmanship and laughter die out as Luz’s companions approach her spot on the ground.

“Oh Luz! Thanks for holding that for me! I was worried I would have to grow a new leg from scratch, I’d be out for a week!”

Willow’s kind face shows itself into her field of vision and breaks the trance Luz has staring at the detached limb. Luz blinks once and studies her friend's face. She sees no pain nor discomfort on Willow’s features. An easy going smile causes her eyes to crinkle behind her glasses and the witchling is close enough for Luz to see the dimples making themselves known on her cheeks.

Luz sputters incoherently, absorbing the small amount of new information given to her like a sponge. A shaking hand points down to the leg resting in her lap and then back to normal. Her voice is high pitched, cracking slightly as her inquiry makes itself known. “This is normal?!”

Willow’s verdant gaze reveals amusement as she nods and shoots a glance over at Amity standing beside her. She hesitates her nod briefly, then raises a hand to emit a ‘so-so’ motion. “Well somewhat! I mean it depends on the situation! It’s nothing serious Luz! We can go to the healer's office and I’ll be right as boiling rain!”

Luz has to make sure she counts to three before responding to her friend. Affirmations repeating themselves in her mind reassuring her that this is not earth and losing limbs is normal in this realm. Judging by Amity’s soft laughter, she knows she probably looks ridiculous with her flared nostrils and eyes clenched shut. Regardless it helps her regain some sense of control when she opens her eyes again. Amity is looking at her with concern when she meets her gaze, Luz makes sure she gives the youngest Blight a small smile to ease her worries. Amity’s reaction to this is to blush and look away quickly, her focus changing to the other end of the rugby field.

Willow extends her hand towards Luz to help her up from the ground. She makes sure to tuck the leg underneath one arm as Willow pulls her up with ease. Luz notes as Willow grounds herself, the makeshift plant limp sinks itself slightly into the ground, taking root within the field turf to stabilize her friend. Luz is gaping once more, now in awe, impressed once again at the innovation magic can bring. Once standing, Luz hands over Willow’s leg with care. 

When the plant witch simply grabs her own limb by the ankle and slings it over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, Luz laughs at the action and shakes her head fondly. As they make their way to the nurses office and Willow explains the intricacies of Witch physiology of limb regeneration, Luz can’t help but marvel at the trail of new life blooming behind each step Willow takes. Leaving some of the barren patches of the field replaced with vibrant growth in their wake. 


End file.
